Abstract

Mitochondria act like fuel stations for the cell, supplying the energy needed to keep it functioning and healthy. During certain activities, they can produce bursts of superoxide, known as 'mitoflashes.' These short, intense events occur in individual mitochondria and can be observed in cardiomyocytes, skeletal muscle, hippocampal neurons, chondrocytes, isolated mitochondria, and among other types of eukaryotic cells using confocal microscopy. Commonly detected with a mitochondria-targeted circularly permuted fluorescent protein (mt-cpYFP), mitoflashes provide real-time insights into mitochondrial respiration function in situ and act as a biosensor for superoxide levels, reflecting the activity of the mitochondrial electron transport chain.

About This Material

This is a Hands-on Tutorial from the GTN which is usable either for individual self-study, or as a teaching material in a classroom.

Questions this will address

• What are mitoflashes, and why are they relevant for understanding mitochondrial function?
• How can bioinformatics and image analysis tools help in tracking and analyzing mitochondrial dynamics?

Learning Objectives

• Understand the biological significance of mitoflashes and their implications for cellular health.
• Learn to track mitochondrial movements in live-cell imaging data.
• Use image analysis tools to detect and quantify mitoflashes.